West Plains native Bill Virdon visited West Plains for a meet and greet at the Ozark Heritage Welcome Center, on Friday.
Virdon, who will celebrate his 90th birthday in June, moved to West Plains with his family when he was 12 years old. Virdon graduated from West Plains High School in 1949. At the age of eighteen, he was signed by the New York Yankees. He later joined the St. Louis Cardinals and became the National League’s Rookie of the Year. At the age of 31, Virdon won the Golden Glove Award. Virdon was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1956 and was a key player in the Pirates’ 1960 World Series Championship.
Virdon retired in 1965 with 1,596 MLB hits, a career batting average of .267 with 91 home runs during his 1,583-game NL career.